Figuring Out the Stuff Between the Beginning and the End

My Top 100 Movies

Last week I said that I would start counting down my Top 100 Movies the way I did the American Film Institute’s list. But I’ve decided not to start that yet. Instead, I’m going to provide my list before going through them one by one. Is that cool with everyone? Okay, good…

Back to the Future

The Empire Strikes Back

Superman

That Thing You Do!

The Matrix

Star Wars

Stand by Me

Wonder Woman

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Dark Knight

Beauty and the Beast

It’s a Wonderful Life

The Sound of Music

The Shawshank Redemption

10 Things I Hate About You

Superman II

The Wizard of Oz

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The American President

Parenthood

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Hook

When Harry Met Sally…

Forrest Gump

Annie

National Treasure

Gladiator

Jurassic Park

The Lion King

The Karate Kid

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Les Miserables

Ghostbusters

Father of the Bride

To Kill a Mockingbird

Return of the Jedi

Batman Begins

The Karate Kid, Part II

The Rocketeer

Willow

Independence Day

The Goonies

A Walk to Remember

Apollo 13

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Rear Window

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Die Hard

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Saving Private Ryan

Blast from the Past

The Lego Movie

The Avengers

The Big Short

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Love Actually

A League of Their Own

The Usual Suspects

Rocky IV

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The Princess Bride

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The Silence of the Lambs

Halloween

The Breakfast Club

Sleepless in Seattle

You’ve Got Mail

A Time to Kill

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Arrival

Swiss Family Robinson

Grease

Enemy of the State

Casablanca

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

A Knight’s Tale

12 Angry Men

Labyrinth

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

The Whole Nine Yards

Mean Girls

Rain Man

The Greatest Showman

Toy Story

Inception

Super 8

The Fugitive

Split

Fools Rush In

Rogue One

Star Trek: First Contact

It

Office Space

It Could Happen to You

City Slickers

Can’t Buy Me Love

I think I’ve mentioned before that this list comes from my rankings over on Flickchart. Therefore, the list is fluid and subject to change depending on how I’m feeling about a particular film on any given day. But this is the list that we’ll go with as I count down the hits.

Honestly, I’m a little surprised by some of these. Actually, I’m not surprised by what’s on the list. I’m surprised by what’s not on the list. I’m sure there are a lot that just barely didn’t make the cut. But it’s a list of my top 100, not a list of every movie I’ve ever seen and enjoyed.

Should these be considered the greatest films ever made? Aside from Back to the Future, no. These are just my favorites. These movies have not been chosen because I think they are necessarily examples of great storytelling or cinematography. These movies have been chosen because I enjoy watching them. That said, I think I’m going to have a lot more fun reviewing these than I did the AFI list, overall. Some movies, as you’ll see, have overlapped with AFI.

So if you want to go on this journey with me, tune in every Monday. If you don’t, no worries. Come back Tuesday for Rewatching Buffy & Angel. Or… you know… other days for… other stuff…